Mary Jo Rines, of Southport and Weston, Massachusetts, is the artist of the month for June at the Southport Memorial Library.

Working in oil and watercolor, Mary Jo is an experienced painter who constantly explores new ideas and techniques. Ideas come from travel throughout the world, encounters with many cultures, and the vast variety of nature. For example, she has escorted painting safaris in Kenya and Tanzania.

From her summer home and studio at Deep Cove, Dogfish Head, Mary Jo has also gained much inspiration. An avid sailor, she knows the way of boats, the light changes on coastal rocks and sea. A luminous, almost spiritual quality of her work has evolved from her inner responses to the natural world.

Mary Jo graduated from Skidmore College with a focus in art and science. She continued her studies at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts and has taken and taught many painting workshops. She is chairman of the Art Committee at the Copley Society of Art in Boston, is on the executive board of the New England Watercolor Society, and is on the board of the Overseers at the Walnut Hill School for the Performing Arts in Natick, Massachusetts. She also runs "The Gallery at First Parish" in Weston, Massachusetts.

The Southport Memorial Library is located at 1032 Hendricks Hill Road at the southern tip of Southport Island. The exhibit will be on view during the library's regular hours, which are Tuesday and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition her work can be seen at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset, the Boothbay Region Art Foundation in Boothbay Harbor, and at her Deep Cove studio. You can find further information at her website: www.mjRinesStudio.com.